It seems to me that anyone describing the MIT kid incident as a "Fake Bomb" is just making shit up.

[BlooInBloo]

To characterize something as a "fake X" requires that the alleged faker *intend* that the thing in question be mistaken. There's no such thing as "accidental fraud", as it were.

(a) Before now, it simply wasn't known for certain whether or not the kid intended it to be taken as a bomb. So calling it a "fake bomb" was unjustified before now.

(b) Now it's known for beyond any reasonable doubt that the kid had no intentions of fake-bombing the airport. To call it a fake bomb now is just a plain lie.

(c) Should she have been more common-sense-ly aware of her actions & choice of clothing? Of course. To acknowledge that doesn't affect (a) and (b) though.


EDIT: "character" -> "characterize".

[Richard Steele]

1. Agreed. nm

[rodeodance]

2. i hope she gets a good lawyer so this stupid incident is not forever on her record.

[BlooInBloo]

3. And to avoid being guantanamized.

[ourbluenation]

9. What? You cant go in a theater and yell "fire" so you sure as hell break the law

when you wear a bomb, fake or otherwise, in an airport. She probably scared the shit out of those poor people there, never mind delaying everyone's travel plans.

for her mental well being, I sure as hell hope her "art" was worth the jail time she will no doubt be getting.

[BlooInBloo]

21. I betcha a star for a needy DUer that she gets sentenced to NO further time.

[goodhue]

32. there was no fake bomb

[ncteechur]

61. You are correct. It was an explosive t-shirt!

[goodhue]

63. it was not explosive

it was electronic
big difference

[Hissyspit]

41. She won't go to jail. This is not equivalent to yelling 'fire' in a theatre

And I saw a picture of it and it is art, no quotes needed.

[malaise]

4. You're right but

she's clueless and dumb.

[JuniperLea]

10. MIT student, clueless and dumb?

I doubt it. Absent-minded, yes. Many, many extremely intelligent people are absent-minded, or have "tunnel vision" and the simple escapes them.

MIT doesn't generally accept "clueless and dumb".

[malaise]

13. LOL

About real life.

[JuniperLea]

15. Yeah, life outside the lab...

And the stupid little things the rest of society worries about. Yep. Your qualifier is absolutely right.

[malaise]

19. She was sent home on $750 bail

according to MSNBC.
Fear, fear, fear, terra, terra, terra. No doubt her MIT professor explained the stupidity of the art.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

20. Book smart, not street smart

I had a professor from MIT who could probably build a nuclear bomb with a paper clip and some stale Pringles crumbs, but couldn't find the convenience store that was across the street from the building where classes were.

[JuniperLea]

27. That's what I'm saying...

Einstein wore loafers and pull-over sweaters.

My CE kid is just like that... he can be so deep in thought that he has to be careful not to leave the house in his boxers:)

Simple stuff escapes brainiacs.

[mr_hat]

34. OK, I'll ask: What's "CE"?

[ecstatic]

26. If she was not an MIT student, or was of Arab descent... she'd

certainly be dead or in jail right now. Either way, I do hope they release her too. It's just clear that her academic record saved her, although it probably kind of led up to the event in some ways as well.

[Retired AF Dem]

62. The cops had prior knowledge that she was from MIT?

:eyes:

[varkam]

5. I disagree

Calling it a fake bomb is simply calling it what it is - a fake bomb. It wasn't a real bomb, was it? The motivations of the student are, IMO, irrelevant to whether or not the bomb was real. The motivations of the student won't change whether or not there was a detonation device, explosive material, etc. etc.

[BlooInBloo]

6. LOL! It's not as though there are only *two* choices, tiger - real bomb or fake bomb...

... Ya know... It COULD just have been NO bomb of ANY sort.

:rofl:

[varkam]

11. Oh, okay, I see your point.

So then we'd actually have to see the damn thing to make any sort of determination? If it was made to look like a bomb (maybe a block of silly putty with 'C4' written on it) then it would be a "fake bomb"?

[BlooInBloo]

17. Quite possibly. There's a whole bunch of case law about what constitutes mens rea...

... And I'm familiar with exactly NONE of it. :P

[Tesha]

28. You can find images of "the bomb" here.

You can find images of "the bomb" linked from here.
Hint: It looks nothing like a bomb. It looks vaguely
like a child's homemade impression of a Mooninite.

But you know how those drove Boston authorities
insane.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/14171964/detail.html

Tesha

[Horse with no Name]

7. So if I call a pastrami sandwich a bomb

Then that makes it so?
The kid is an engineering student who had a gadget on her shirt. Maybe she doesn't realize the idiots running this country can only maintain order by keeping everyone scared out of their pants?
Maybe it never dawned on her that some moron would think her pin was a bomb?
You better watch those pastrami sandwiches.
They can be very scary!

[varkam]

8. Have you ever actually eaten one of those things?

Very scary indeed...

[BlooInBloo]

18. There might be a bomb AFTER eating one.

[JuniperLea]

14. People smart enough to get into MIT...

are probably likely to have the simple escape them.

Anything can be a bomb... or, rather, a bomb can be made to look like anything.

It's not the pastrami, it's the pickles and mustard that can be dangerous!

:rofl:

[ourbluenation]

12. I'm with you. I think it was beyond cruel to walk in an airport with a fake bomb. n/t

[BlooInBloo]

23. Except that it wasn't a fake bomb.

[JuniperLea]

16. Do we know for certain there was "motivation"?

Other than keeping warm, that is? Could be a funny little shirt that gets a chuckle in MIT's labs for all we know.

[goodhue]

31. we know there was no such motivation

http://www-tech.mit.edu/V127/N40/simpson.html

Simpson (a former Tech photographer) was wearing the device, which included green LEDs arranged in the shape of a star, during yesterday’s MIT Career Fair. Her defense attorney said she was at the airport to pick up her boyfriend who arrived at Logan this morning.

Simpson approached an information booth in Logan’s Terminal C this morning wearing the light-up device, Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Wayne Margolis said during Simpson’s arraignment today. She “said it was a piece of art,” Margolis said, and “refused to answer any more questions.” Margolis said this caused several Logan employees to flee the building. Margolis also said that Simpson had been wearing the art at least a few days. After asking about an incoming flight, Simpson then walked to the baggage claim area, Margolis said.


http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/21/mit-student-arrested.html

Star was an intern at Squid Labs this summer, and is an all-around awesome geek who loves to build things. FYI, friends at MIT say she wears the hoodie on a regular basis- it's just unfortunate that she had it on while trying to pick a friend up at the airport. MIT students don't really do mornings, or worry about what they're wearing, so I can't imagine she'd even think about her clothes before heading out to pick up a friend at the airport before 8am.

[JuniperLea]

33. Thanks for this!

MIT students are far too into thinking about serious matters than to worry about clothing. This is exactly what I suspected all along.

Thanks again for posting this.

[goodhue]

40. no problem

eom

[Guaranteed]

56. Does the fact that she intended it to be art rule out the possibility that

she intended it to look like a bomb?

[goodhue]

64. it did not look like a bomb

eom

[5X]

24. in that case, it was a fake car. n/t

[goodhue]

30. why was it fake anything?

:shrug:

[BlooInBloo]

37. I think the poster appreciates the point now....

... Who ever woulda thunk that my philosophy training would come in handy in real life? :rofl:

(At one point I thought/read/wrote/talked (all same thing) rather seriously about the constellation of concepts *fake*, *fictional*, and the like. Getting to the low-resolution description in the OP is of course trivial. A very small amount of thought, however shows that there are oodles of details, each populated with its own devils. It's highly non-trivial to satisfactorily explicate the whole thing.

[Hissyspit]

38. It wasn't a real bomb.

It wasn't a fake bomb, either.

[moodforaday]

68. How about "fake time machine"?

It could be anything fake, you know. A fake razor blade maybe? A fake brain scanner? Fake dishwasher? A fake remote mind control device? Who knows, who knows?

Calling it a fake bomb is fear-mongering and nothing but.

[Swamp Rat]

22. For those calling the artwork a "fake bomb" I would like to see proof it is, in fact, a "fake bomb"

The instant I saw it I recognized her work as art. :shrug:

[KittyWampus]

46. I'm an artist who does collage using junk. I didn't recognize it as art. Though I don't think I'd ha

have thought bomb, either.

I'm not a fearful person.

But then, I don't work in an airport.

[Swamp Rat]

49. Ok, you may have a point about aesthetics and calling it "art," but

even from a distance it looks like a simple breadboard with a 9v battery. I don't understand how anyone cannot see that.

I find the overreaction fascinating and very funny, though not the mistreatment of Star.

[KittyWampus]

52. Quick friendly comment, I'm University edumicated :) and have NO IDEA what a breadboard is

though I can think of a few objects that might be construed as handweapons which you might not recognize :)

Do you know what a muddler is or a dibbler, for instance?

[Swamp Rat]

54. Well, I knew what a breadboard was when I was 8 years old, and they are still sold at Radio Shack.

I don't think a vocabulary test helps, but I've used muddlers for fishing trout and bass, and dibblers are supposed to be extinct... except for their intergalactic cousins :)

[Briarius]

25. I'm going to disagree with you on (c)

being an electrical engineer (albeit not one from MIT) I probably wouldn't have thought that someone would think that a breadboard with some LEDs in it would be mistaken for a bomb. I'm still not sure how it was... (other than it's the Boston PD)

[BlooInBloo]

36. On the choice between stupid or malevolent airport people, I'm defaulting to the former...

... though they're not mutually exclusive of course. Anyone in EE - especially at MIT - knows full well that what's duh-obvious to them is likely not so to airport-people. It takes but the smallest snippet of post-9/11-bigoted-America-social-awareness to appreciate that. I'm approximately as ubergeek as she is, and *I* appreciate that unfortunate fact. And I'm white fer fuck's sake (less reason to be extra careful around the executive than my shaded brothers and sisters).

For her lack of socio-contextual awareness to be reasonable, she would have to literally be a hermit, eschewing contact with society for years - which is plainly not the case.

When in Stupidstan, do as the stupidstanians do. She should've known that.

OTOH, it may be on precisely this point that the fact that she's a kid gets applied. I'm not totally unsympathetic to that, I suppose. The conclusion of that line of thought is, I suppose, that she's an adult *now*.

[KittyWampus]

43. are you saying anyone who doesn't recognize a breadboard is stupid? I can think of several items

you wouldn't know what they were but I wouldn't call you stupid.

I have no idea what a breadboard is or what one looks like.

That thing attached to her sweatshirt could very well be bomb.

BTW, I was an honor student in Highschool and took college level classes senior year and was then a double major in University.

My practical knowledge of computers and circuitry is extremely limited. And I'm just guessing from context that's what a 'breadboard' is.

I really, really hope you aren't implying that anyone who thought that might be explosive or attached to stuff that might detonate is stupid.

[BlooInBloo]

53. Nope. Closer to the converse.

[moodforaday]

69. You don't have to identify

something for what it is. It would be sufficient to realize what it is not. It was not a bomb.

But then neither is a bottle of mineral water, and you can't have that, either. How long are we going to let ourselves be terrorized by the authorities?

[Locrian]

60. ageed

Someone one with even basic electronics knowledge would instantly know what this was. Id be more worried about the gameboy, laptop, etc that could EASILY hide a real device.

[goodhue]

29. Indeed, there was no fake bomb

Most media reports are getting it wrong

[Warpy]

35. I wondered about it until I saw a picture of it.

Fake bomb, my flabby old ass.

They were right to question what it was. The overreaction and threats of prison are ridiculous.

[Canuckistanian]

39. Does THIS look like a BOMB? To any sentient being?

http://imgred.com/
It's so rudimentary to ANYONE who knows electronics to be laughable.

And we're trusting officials to recognize a REAL BOMB when they see one?????

[Screwfly]

44. The cops obviously did

or they would've Tasered the shit out of her.

[KittyWampus]

45. Yes, it could very well be something that explodes or attaches to something that detonates

explosives.

What unbelievable arrogance.

I have a University degree and constantly find new topics to learn about.

Electonics and circuitry are not one of them.

Am I stupid?

Because you and several other DU'ers seem to be implying just that.

[Swamp Rat]

57. I'm not

... at least not you nor DUers in general. ;) :D



:D

[Canuckistanian]

58. But I'm not talking about regular people

I'm talking about people who should be trained enough to know what a bomb looks like. And that includes having been trained in basic electronics and bomb configuration.

I said NOTHING about DUers. And I don't expect everyone to know about these kinds of things.

But it sure would be nice if the people guarding us had a friggin' CLUE.

[Swamp Rat]

50. "Laughable" is the appropriate word.

Breadboards of terror!!! :scared:



:D

[DarkTirade]

42. Did anybody else notice that this is the exact same kind of technology as the last 'fake bomb'

in Boston? A circuit board with LEDs. Exactly the same as the last one. You'd think they would have learned from the national embarrassment the first time...

[sendero]

47. The country has gone mad...

... one terror attack and America turns into a bunch of simpering ninnies.

It is truly pathetic.

There is no reason to think for a second that a circuit board is part of a bomb. None. Only in the hysterical minds of fear-crippled idiots is this assumption possible.

I hope she can sue the asses off of someone. Enough of this pathetic, everything is a bomb bullshit world.

As if a terrorist having a circuit board bomb controller would leave it visible. Puhlease.

[Jed Dilligan]

48. It's just the right size to detonate

3.5 ounces of liquid explosives!

:eyes:

[MilesColtrane]

51. Richard Jewell's ghost is restless tonight. n/t

[Poll_Blind]

55. Agreed. n/t

PB

[The Backlash Cometh]

59. Unfortunately, MIT prides itself on its pranks and stunts and I'm guessing,

this one went too far. She probably wanted to make a name for herself and stand out. She may have gotten more than she bargained for.

[goodhue]

65. it was not a prank or stunt

http://www-tech.mit.edu/V127/N40/simpson.html

Simpson (a former Tech photographer) was wearing the device, which included green LEDs arranged in the shape of a star, during yesterday’s MIT Career Fair. Her defense attorney said she was at the airport to pick up her boyfriend who arrived at Logan this morning.

Simpson approached an information booth in Logan’s Terminal C this morning wearing the light-up device, Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Wayne Margolis said during Simpson’s arraignment today. She “said it was a piece of art,” Margolis said, and “refused to answer any more questions.” Margolis said this caused several Logan employees to flee the building. Margolis also said that Simpson had been wearing the art at least a few days. After asking about an incoming flight, Simpson then walked to the baggage claim area, Margolis said.

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/21/mit-student-arrested.html

Star was an intern at Squid Labs this summer, and is an all-around awesome geek who loves to build things. FYI, friends at MIT say she wears the hoodie on a regular basis- it's just unfortunate that she had it on while trying to pick a friend up at the airport. MIT students don't really do mornings, or worry about what they're wearing, so I can't imagine she'd even think about her clothes before heading out to pick up a friend at the airport before 8am.

[The Backlash Cometh]

67. Thanks for the info.

It still means a tough time for her ahead.

[western mass]

66. Amen.

And anybody who saw the first clear picture of this "bomb" and didn't think "another fake terror scare whipped up by idiots" needs to be ashamed of themselves.